One of the best posts I've seen from
@aProgDirector
I don't view a colleague with PTSD as different than any other colleague. But one that is collecting disability while working as a doctor? I view that one as scum leeching off of society including myself.
How about you not participating in the military is leaching off of society and veterans? I want you to take on a medical condition related to military service before you begrudge any of them a single dollar.
In my state, the wording is based on being impaired by a diagnosis rather than having received any specific diagnosis. However, I agree with others that if you're collecting service connection benefits, you should be impaired in some way. Working fulltime as a physician and collecting disability benefits seems incompatible to me, regardless of what happened in the military.
What people don't appreciate about their colleagues that are disabled, or compensating for a disability and still working full time and with the same workload, is that they are working harder than you are and not being compensated for it. Many of them are paying more out of their pockets, hurting their health, enduring more pain, to do just as much. Some of them have to. I've seen the looks of resentment the doc in a wheelchair gets because everyone else has to walk 2 more flights of stairs to meet them or it adds 20 min to the day to wait for the elevator while rounding with them. Say they were like many of us, and didn't start training that way (ie it's not like they were choosing to be that sort of doctor). Do the rest of us owe it that individual and to society to help them contribute as much as they can? They contribute more being a doctor in a wheelchair while the rest of us are inconvenienced than for us not to bother.
****ing suck it up people. Those of us who have more or are able to help out the vets, the widows, the orphans, the disabled, the hungry, the sexually abused and nicotine addicted, should. I went into medicine to trouble myself for these people, and I'm glad to have a higher salary to pay more taxes for them. It's a privilege to be in that position. To be in the shoes of a doctor whose work is not only more fulfilling and exciting, makes a good living, and can foot these bills, who can help these groups. Because no matter how hard we work, we don't intrinsically work harder than the combat vet, or even a garbage collector, there's a value to the sort of intelligence and stress we have, but not to where we should act like they shouldn't be entitled to more than our expertise and time.
The combat vet absolutely deserves not to foot a single ****ing dime towards any condition that is service related, even if he's making a physician's salary. You shouldn't be expected to pay for a foot that you let get shot off to protect your country.
These vets literally and often permanently sacrifice some of their health in the service, and whatever they are left dealing with deserves full support.
Maybe to manage his PTSD and handle the stress of being a physician, maybe to cope with sleepless nights he's drinking more coffee. Getting mote counseling and paying more towards his out of pocket deductible, copays, out of pocket maximum. Maybe he's buying lavender scented pillows and self help books. A white noise machine. We have no idea what this is costing the vet personally, and I'm quite comfortable having whatever tiny fraction of my salary, even as an underpaid resident, say $2 a year or whatever non-sense I'm sure it is, putting some extra cash in his pocket for whatever that does for him. Just because now his life sucks a little more to deal with **** he never would have otherwise for this country's benefit.
People do the best they can, get dealt **** hands, or are parents raising the next generation, or whatever group is needing some socialist support, and everyone who has more wants to grumble about helping the person with less, as if we don't have enougb by being better of than they are in some way.
The physician with PTSD or service related condition getting disability from the VA and working full time, has less than another doc not in those shoes. We all pay taxes and there's laws and filing and paperwork to redistribute among us. He'll get a salary, and VA benefits, and taxes etc will adjust accordingly. I'll pay taxes as a resident without children, and my co-resident with kids will accordingly, and maybe some of the vet's check and some of my check will go for childcare credit.
I'll spend the extra 20 minutes to write a note so my co-resident with kids can go home that much earlier. I'll pass up the time with my cats. I'll spend an extra 20 min with the doc in the wheelchair. And I'll pay the tax for whatever this vet qualifies for as long as they are reporting their condition and income to the VA honestly.
But I'm not so greedy that I'm not willing to part with some of my money for people who have less.
The full-time physician with PTSD disability is welcome to a slice a of tiny resident pie. Coffee or lavender scented pillow on me.
As far as reporting, I don't think he owes anyone but his healthcare provider a damn word about his health condition and occupation. We have physician oversight, yes, but ultimately we depend on each doctor to self-monitor themselves. As long as the doc with PTSD has a psychiatrist to oversee their care, lets the psychiatrist know they are a physician, and is honest and shows up, and we institute a system that makes coverage for this doc to see that psychiatrist far far easier, than that if ****ing it. If we stop penalizing this **** and trying to brand people and get all up in their **** over PTSD for ****'s sake, I trust this guy to recognize or have help recognizing his own safety to practice medicine, as much as I trust any of you not to get so sleep deprived, burned out depersonalized, or just plain flu or hungover or still drunk at work the next day. In fact, I trust the physician with PTSD to be self-monitoring than any **** that would demand disclosure.
I would argue it's more of this sort of stigma about mental health that creates the very danger it is worried about. It kills careers, literally kills doctors, and costs society more and hurts patients far more, and even the fact that docs are posting on SDN and biting their nails over this is more harmful. The physician with mental illness is more a danger to himself, and the shaming culture, than he ever would be towards a patient.
The whole lot, the average doc, is more a danger to patients with this kind of an attitude than any individual.
Docs lie and go to work impaired because of, not in spite of, these sorts of attitudes. Give them acceptance and an easy out in the form of help and then come back, and they will not only keep their mental health from hurting patients, they will stop hurting themselves nearly so much, and will be more productive, and more honest.
I would take any of that ****ing paperwork and run it by your psychiatrist/provider and an ADA attorney, and then answer in a shrewdly honest way. But I would not give any medical school or licensing board a single word more than what you prudently by law have to.
Play the game for yourself and for keeps, play it legal. Don't give up anything you legally don't have to.
That's not saying you should lie, but feel free to follow the law.
